
Glossary: Aspects of a Business
This is our checklist of all the 'stuff' that an organisation might think about. We're updating regularly with anything we come across that looks useful.
Think about how you can deploy techniques from our insight methods glossary to help you with any of these areas
Aspects of brand
Focus: in a noisy world it is crucial to articulate clearly what it is that your product, service or experience offers. The 'Jobs to be Done' framework is currently the best tool to determine this (check out Ryan Garner who is a pro in this method).
Colour scheme: colour communicates in a mysterious way. To decide upon your colour palette, create a mood board. Then combine this with colour theory: there are plenty of books that you can buy that will tell you the meaning of colour.
Typography: the shape of letters communicate on a deep, often subconscious, level level. Typefaces have evolved over the years, and their histories contain memories.
Audience: developing a rich portrait of who you are hoping to engage. How do you connect with them, what platforms do they use, what types of communities, and what emotional, practical and purpose driven motivations are you aligning with?
Manifesto: your punchy, call-to-arms articulation of purpose
Ideology: what are the constellation of ideas in your domain? Are there any specific areas (sustainability/LGBT etc) that are central? What thinkers or books does the organisation use as navigational tools
Lexicon: what are the keywords to include and the ones to avoid?
Voice: what type of voice, or voices, do you use to communicate? Casual, serious, fun etc?
Characteristics: start to imagine the personality: are you confident, caring, competitive? Do you take risks? What is your sense of humour? What food might you eat at a restaurant? Who are your heroes, favourite comedians etc?
Channels: what social media platforms or types of advertising space are you going to be active on? Why?
Business model
The business model canvas diagrams the key things that you need to consider when thinking through an enterprise. The sections are:
- Activities: what do you need to do to deliver value?
- Resources: what human/financial/cognitive assets do you need to operate?
- Partners: who is in your ecosystem, such as suppliers and supporters?
- Value: what is it that you offer customers (see next section on types of value)?
- Customers: who pays for your product/service/experience?
- Channels: how do you communicate and conduct transactions?
- Relationships: how do you get customers, keep them and then get more?
- Costs: what do you have to pay for?
- Revenue: what are your sources of income?
Types of Value
Central to commerce is the idea of providing value. This comes in many forms, some are outlined below:
- Economic: saving or making people money
- Social: opportunities to connect with others
- Hedonic: sensorial experiences connected with pleasure
- Altruistic: helping the wellbeing of others
- Civic: fulfilling duties as a citizen
- Efficiency: optimising and saving time
- Craft: sophisticated methods of production
- Status: enhancing someone's standing
- Esteem: creating a sense of respect and admiration
- Ludic: providing playful experiences
- Ethical: aligning with a code of conduct
- Aesthetic: conveying artistic authenticity
- Spiritual: touching people deep within
Developing a campaign
When creating a specific campaign, it is important to understand what the aim is:
- Generate social media buzz
- Increase awareness
- Increase brand equity
- Generate web traffic
- Create PR value
- Encourage participation
- Sell something
- Change an attitude
- Change a behaviour
Crafting communication
The following tips can help guide you whilst you write content by focusing on the effects that you hope to achieve:
Resonate deeply so that an emotive and purpose-driven chord is struck
Give people a sense of feeling empowered
Inspire people to be brave and act differently
Strike the right balance between relaxed and urgency
Be in control of the underlying message
Use language with lots of verbs to create a sense of movement
Create a sense that someone is embarking on a journey
Align with currents of meaningful purpose
Sound like a relatable human being
Ensure that you are sharing a practical and relevant message
Less is more, so be simple, clear and concise
Outline clear commitments
Communicate in a way that is inclusive
Ways to innovate
Below are some trajectories that can help create an innovative organisation:
- Partner with either emerging start-ups, large companies, individual creators, or progressive causes
- Develop a formal process of NPD (new product development) or R&D (research and development)
- Empower small groups of individuals within the organisation
- Outsource to outside firms that specialise
- Begin a program of thought leadership
- Look at companies outside your sector and port over their forms and ways of working
- Create co-creation and crowdsourcing projects
- Generate a sense of rivalry between internal teams
Understand purchase barriers
By empathising with peoples pain of paying you can work towards overcoming them:
- Lack of knowledge about what benefit they will receive
- A new type of behaviour needs to evolve
- They are unfamiliar with the category
- There are too many decision makers involved
- It's difficult to make the switch
- The costs are too high
- There is a lack of a supporting infrastructure (such as customer service)
- The functional benefits aren't strong enough
Marketing research paths to explore
- HMW (how might we) understand multi-screen life?
- HMW develop a sense of community?
- HMW manage increasing uncertainty?
- HMW create local understanding?
- HMW learn to listen?
- HMW avoid stereotypes?
- HMW use AI properly?
- HMW understand our role in the changing city?
- HMW search for the new?
- HMW earn trust from society?
- HMW ride waves of cultural innovation?
- HMW maximise a data strategy?
- HMW optimise decision making?
- HMW increase awareness and purchase?
- HMW assert relevancy by ensuring a signal in the noise?
- HMW digitally and culturally transform?
MORE UPDATES COMING SOON...
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